WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CLYDESDALE AND THE WESTERN DISTRICT.

THE Natural History Society of Glasgow having resolved to publish Catalogues of the Fauna of Scotland, with special reference to Clydesdale and the Western District, requests the co-operation of all interested in Scottish Zoology. The following zoologists have agreed to draw up lists of the species in the various groups to which their names are appended. Any observers who can furnish information regarding the distribution of species, the variations which they undergo in particular localities, the altitudes which they reach, and generally any notes bearing on the subject, will further the object in view by communicating with these gentlemen, the lists being now in preparation.

The Council will also be glad to hear from any zoologists (whether members of the Society or not) who would undertake to prepare Catalogues of those classes for which no compilers have as yet been obtained.

As far as possible, the Catalogues will be drawn up on one uniform plan, and of the same size as the Proceedings of the Society, with which they will be issued to the members, although paged apart for future collection. A limited number of copies will also be printed for separate sale.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.

SESSIO-N 1 8 7 8-7 9.

THE TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, ANDERSON'S COLLEGE BUILDINGS,

SEPTEMBER 24TH, 1878.

Mr. James Barclay Murdoch, Vice-President, in the chair. The Treasurer submitted his Annual Financial Statement, which showed a balance in favour of the Society of £73 13s. 5d.

The Secretary read the Report of the Council on the business of last Session. Since last Annual Meeting the death of four members had been recorded, viz., Mr. Charles Malloch, a life member; Mr. Thomas S. Hutcheson, Dr. James M'Pherson, and Mr. James Wingate, ordinary members. During the Session 26 members were admitted, one of whom paid the life composition, as did also four who were formerly on the roll. The total number of members last year was 150, and, making allowance for deaths, resignations, and removals, the roll at present numbers 166, being an increase of 16 since last Annual Meeting. No Special Meetings were held during the Session, but the eight ordinary Monthly Meetings were all well attended, and the business throughout was varied and interesting. Several important papers were read, and many specimens of interest were brought forward for exhibition. Full Reports of all the Meetings appeared in the North British Daily Mail, and the work of the Society was thus kept before absent members, as well as before those of the general public who might take an interest in Natural History pursuits. Part 3 of Vol. III.

of the Proceedings, embracing the work of last Session, being nearly through the press, will be in the hands of members by next Meeting, and, as it contains many original papers, it will doubtless be appreciated by the members. A beginning has been made with the Catalogue of the Fauna of the West of Scotland, the first portion of the Hymenoptera, by Mr. Peter Cameron, being included in the part above referred to, while other lists are in progress, for future issue. A series of nine excursions to places of

interest was arranged for the recess, and two of these, taken in concert with the Geological Society in the early part of the season, were well attended; but the others set down for the summer months were not successful so far as attendance went, the members to a large extent being resident at the coast or in the country. The last excursion of the series, on 31st August, was successfully carried out, as there was a good attendance, and the day was fine throughout, although previously the weather had been wet and ungenial. The district chosen was Craigenglen, a small ravine or glen of erosion, of about a quarter of a mile in extent, running north and south along the southern slope of the south hill of Campsie, and about a mile and a quarter north of the village of Torrance. The glen has been long known to and often visited by members of the Natural History Society and Geological Society of Glasgow, on account of the abundance and variety of the Carboniferous limestone fossils obtained from its strata, and from the excellent state of preservation in which many of the specimens are found. The strata here exposed belong to the lower limestone series, and in the neighbourhood of the glen, as well as at other points along the south hill, the limestone and coal of the Campsie and Hurlet series were at one time extensively worked, both by open cast quarries and by mining the strata into the hill; but of recent years little or nothing has been done in developing the mineral wealth of the district. It is to be hoped, however, that the new Kelvin Valley Railway, which passes through the village of Torrance, little more than a mile south of the old workings, will be the means of inducing the resumption of operations, as it will afford an easier and cheaper method of transit to the centres of industry than that by which the traffic was formerly carried on.

Besides the coal and limestone referred to, the clay-band ironstone in the banks of Craigenglen was worked by mining in the earlier years of the present century, and from the fossiliferous

shales in connection with the ironstone a rich harvest of organic remains was formerly obtained in the old shale banks and in the bed of the stream. So abundant were crinoid stems then that the stream was known to the people of the district as the "witch whorl burn," these remains being known in various districts of the country as pulley stones, screw stones, fairy stones, or St. Cuthbert's beads, before their real organic structure was understood. Of recent years these fossiliferous shale banks have become very much overgrown by whin, thorn, broom, and rose bushes, as well as by grass and herbage, and few good exposures of the shale are now to be seen; still, by digging into the banks, by examining the bed of the stream, or by washing the weathered shale for the smaller organisms, many interesting specimens are yet to be found by the patient investigator. Upwards of 150 species of Carboniferous fossils have already been recorded from the strata of Craigenglen, the list having been much enriched during recent years by members of the Society in their search for the microzoa of these old deposits. All the groups of fossils characteristic of the limestone districts of other portions of Scotland are represented in the strata of the glen to a large extent, while the number and variety of spiral or univalve shells in a fine state of preservation has seldom been equalled in any other beds of the same age.

In connection with the marine deposits of Craigenglen, it was pointed out by Mr. John Young, F.G.S., that here there are alternations of fresh-water deposits with those formed or laid down over the old sea bottoms, the fresh-water beds being characterised by the absence of marine organisms and by the presence of entomostraca, and fishes, found in similar strata in other portions of the Scottish coal-field; such alternations of marine and fresh-water conditions implying extensive upheavals and depressions of the earth's crust during the formation of the limestone series.

Craigenglen having a southern exposure, and being sheltered from the east and west winds, affords a fine field for the botanist. In the early months of the year the slopes are brilliant with a profusion of primroses and other spring flowers, and farther in the season the Adders-tongue fern, Ophioglossum vulgatum, may be found in abundance on the eastern bank. A distinctive feature of the glen is the profusion of rose bushes, which flourish more particularly on the right bank, the prevalence of Rosa villosa imparting a striking and picturesque aspect to the view. The long, straight stems of

this species, measuring six or seven feet, profusely loaded with the fully ripe fruit of a rich red colour, globose form, and large size, in many instances having a circumference of nearly three and a half inches-arrested the attention of the members, such a fine display never having been observed before.

This locality presents a favourable field for the investigations of the entomologist, the shady nooks and quiet resting-places of the glen affording suitable shelter for the objects of his pursuit.

Several captures of spiders, &c., were made, and, after some points of interest were explored, the party proceeded to Torrance Hotel, where dinner had been provided, and where a happy and instructive evening was spent.

The Librarian reported that during the Session the library had been made good use of by the members. The books were all in good condition, and the volumes requiring it had been bound. Eight volumes had been added by donation; in exchange with other societies, fourteen complete volumes and about fifty parts of Transactions; while six volumes had been purchased. Eleven societies were added to the exchange list, among them being some of the most important on the Continent and in America.

The Reports were all approved of and adopted.

The following gentlemen were elected office-bearers of the Society: Professor John Young, M.D., F.R.S.E., &c., President; James Barclay Murdoch, John Young, F.G.S., and John A. Harvie-Brown, F.Z.S., Vice-Presidents; Robert Mason, Secretary; Robert J. Bennett, Treasurer; Henry C. Young, Librarian; D. Corse Glen, C.E., F.G.S., Francis G. Binnie, George J. Combe, Archibald Robertson, David Robertson, jun., Joseph Somerville, John M. Campbell, Arthur Pratt, and John Kirsop, Members of Council.

Messrs. D. M. Fleming and F. Fergus were elected ordinary members of the Society.

SPECIMENS EXHIBITED.

Mr. James Coutts exhibited a fine large branching specimen of one of the Alcyonoid Corals, belonging to the Gorgonidae family, from the collection of Mr. George Thomson, of Victoria, Western Africa, one of the Society's corresponding members. In this species the cortical layer is of a brilliant orange colour, the polype cells being of an oval shape and placed on the top of small wart-like